What happens behind the scenes at the capitol?

The 2025 legislative session starts in just a few days, but lawmakers have been working hard for months behind the scenes, to ensure they’re prepared for the work of the 60th legislature.

We talked with our political analyst, Scott Mitchell, about some of the unseen work that lawmakers conduct behind closed doors, and the process of a bill becoming a law in Oklahoma.

“There's a massive amount of work that goes into trying to get a bill across; 99% of the preparation people don't see, but that's what makes it out on the floor,” said Mitchell.

For the 2025 legislative session, 841 senate bills have been filed and 1,928 house bills have been filed. That doesn’t include joint resolutions or the bills that will be presented as part of the state budget.

“Each and every bill is a story unto itself,” said Mitchell.

Scott Mitchell explains some of those bills will never see the light of day. To put it in perspective, more than 2,000 bills were introduced in 2024 and only around 300 were signed into law.

“You're gonna have a high, high percentage of these things die. A lot of times the wacky-looking stuff is introduced and the author has no intention of moving that bill,” said Mitchell.

Some of the legislation that has been sparking controversy may never even make it past the first legislative step.

“Certain members have become very skilled at using the press release function, the social media function, to author bills and get attention on stuff that is insane, which will never see the light of day,” said Mitchell.

Behind some of the chaos though, are dozens of lawmakers that are focused on moving the state forward.

“The really good legislators work their fingers to the bone on this stuff, that's what people probably don't know,” said Mitchell. “It's not ill will and it's not any sort of conspiracy to do bad things, it's mostly really good people trying to make a difference,” said Mitchell.

The legislative session begins on Monday, starting with the Governor’s State of the State Address at 12:30 p.m.